Idris Elba's 'Luther' opens to 5.7 million

New crime drama Luther got off to a strong start for BBC One on Tuesday (May 4), early ratings figures indicate.

The new six-part series, which stars Idris Elba in the titular role, pulled in 5.65m (23.8%) in the 9pm hour. It comfortably beat ITV1's The Bill, which had 2.64m (11.1%) over the same period.

Heston's '70s Feast managed 2.42m (10.2%) for Channel 4, The Story of Science brought in 1.66m (7%) to BBC Two, and on Five, a new episode of CSI was seen by 1.84m (7.7%).

BBC One was also tops in the 8pm hour, taking 6.05m (26.3%) for Holby City. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? had 3.18m (13.8%) for ITV1, Channel 4's Supersize vs Superskinny put in 2.24m (9.7%) and Five's Cowboy Builders appealed to 1.49m (6.5%).

BBC Two's new series Theo's Adventure Capitalist, in which Dragons' Den star Theo Paphitis advises British entrepreneurs on foreign startups, could only interest 830k (3.6%).

Overall, BBC One finished first in primetime with an average audience share of 26.4% to ITV1's disappointing 13.9%. Channel 4 was third with 8.8% (+1: 0.9%), followed by Five with 5.5% and BBC Two with 4.9%.

Elsewhere, E4's first look at the series finale of Shameless notched up 860k (9.7%) in the 11pm hour, with a further 97k (2.4%) on timeshift.

BARB ratings data supplied by Attentional